Maple burl keepsake box

Dear lumberjocks,It is a pleasure to be posting again. Yes, as you have gathered, I am still making boxes, after all this is only my second real box and I am just beginning to get the hang of some of the processes.to be sure, it was an absolute pleasure making this box. I was able to focus less on being anxious about doing things right and more time on my next step.Part of the fun is sourcing the product list to make the box. the tassel, this time, came directly from turkey. it is handmade and of pure silk. there is no comparison to its distant polyester counterpart. it can be had, for the same price as the polyester ones from etsy.com. it drapes beautifully. the lock again is from lee valley’s economy box lock for $14.80. it may sound cheap but I can assure you it is not. it is solidly built and turns very well, as well in my opinion as some of the most expensive box locks on the market.I will be doing a full mortise lock on my next box so I will not be able to use this one in my next project.

The veneer was stunning to work with and I am very happy with the results this time round. unfortunately my cauls were not fitted well enough which created some bubbling on lid.another problem I ran into was my bearing on my flush trim bit was leaving an indentation on the box and it took some figuring out as to why. for some reason, the bit was not spinning perfectly straight, the bearing thereby was “knocking” onto the box. I decided to chisel out the boxwood by hand and did less then a satisfactory job in some areas.I used suede leather to line the interior and used Honduran rosewood for the tray. I monogrammed the inside of the lid with my mother’s initials and will be presenting her this gift on her birthday. now here’s a color coordination question for all of you. the rosewood goes very well with the maple, but so does the leather. by using the same color tones in the leather and the rosewood, I perhaps might have lost some contrast. what do you guys think? should I have used a different color leather? or is this three way color combination viable?All the methods used in making this box was sourced from Roger Bean’s 112 page “walnut pen box” documentary available for purchase at “smartboxmaker.com” between Rogers three documentaries that he has currently put out, I have been able to learn the skills needed in making these beautiful and exquisite boxes, and will be ever thankful for this opportunity, both to roger and the lumberjocks community, through which I was introduced to this wonderful hobby.looking forward to questions, comments and feedback.Eyal Bension

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11 comments so far

It looks great. I think the suede and the tray look fine. The purple is a strong color though and perhaps a neutral shade (cream, tan, even chocolate) would have kept the box itself as the star of this show… because it is fantastic. I really like it. I would like more details as to how you built the curved top, and how you did the inlay around the edges of the veneer.

Jerry,thank you for the wonderful compliments and you opinion on the color tone. to make the curved lid, you will need a template with your curved profile. cut the sides of the box to the profile. then to make the lid, you will use 1/16 plywood, and glue in the lid using two forms. the lines are black/black/white black veneers glued together to create banding. all of these steps including how to make he banding are in roger’s ebooks.

dovetails:you can find places online to do the monogram, however you will pay about $25 once you factor in the shipping.I am fortunate to have a leathercraft shop in my neighborhood that did the job for $5. I would suggest looking for a local source as It will be much cheaper.

Eyal,Well done indeed. This shape was popularized by Andrew Crawford, and has become, I believe, a genuine classic. It’s one of my all time favorites. Once mastered, the curved lids are great fun to make, and always stunning in appearance. Great choice of veneer and nice matching. The rosewood works well with the blue interior. The monogram is a nice touch. Personally, I think the blue works well with the maple. My compliments.Roger